Cotton gin cleaner



April 14, 1953 c. M. MERKEL ElAL COTTON GIN CLEANER Filed April 25, 1950INVENTORS Patented Apr. 14, 1953 1 UNITED STATES OFFICE coTToN GINCLEANER Application April 25, 1950, Serial No. 158,052

2 Claims. (01. 19-59) (Granted under Title 35, U. s. Code (1952),

see. 266) The invention herein described may be manufactured and used byor for the Government of the United States of America for governmentalpurposes throughout the world, without the payment to us of any royaltythereon.

This invention relates to apparatus for cleaning cotton fiber, and hasamong its objects improvement in the cleaning functions of suchapparatus, provision of a simple structure which may be included inexisting lint cleaners and air-blast gin stands with little alterationsand such other objects as will be apparent from the followingdescription and claims.

The invention is utilized in connection with conventional cottonprocessing apparatus having a rotatable, toothed, horizontal cylinderfor carrying cotton fiber and means for feeding cotton fiber to thecylinder. In general, according to the invention, a horizontal grid baris located beyond the point of feeding and positioned in close proximityto the teeth tips of the cylinder for cleaning the fiber, as byscrubbing, combing and beating it. Means is provided for reciprocatingthe grid-bar longitudinally of the cylinder while the cylinder rotates,thus to aid in removal of fiber from the grid-bar, whereby thefiber-cleaning function is maintained more effectively and efficiently.

For a detailed description of the invention, reference is made to theaccompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a section on line I! ofFigure 2 looking from rear to front of a gin stand unit incorporatingthe invention, and

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

In the drawing, 3 represents a gin stand unit providing a conventionalrotatable cylinder having a plurality of longitudinally spaced, circularplates 4 provided with saw-shaped peripheral teeth 5, ribs 6 and 1, airblast nozzle 8 and other numbered elements hereinafter described. Thepresent invention is incorporated in the assembly 30 that embraces aplurality of elements numbered 3| to 60, respectively, which aregenerally positioned behind the plates 4 and air-blast nozzle 8, exceptfor the crossheads and motivating items protruding at the ends of thegin stand as hereinafter described.

In a conventional airblast gin stand 3 the horizontal cylinder assemblycomprises from 60 to 80 trained 12-inch plates 4, having from 264 to 290peripheral teeth per plate, all plates being rigidly locked atapproximately 4 inch spacings more or less on shaft 9 between separatingspacers l0, whereby the plates may rotate without wobble between thehuller ribs 6 and ginning ribs I.

Said gin ribs l are customarily spaced approximately inch, more or less,apart and are attached at their ends to rib rails I I, I2 by means notshown. Said huller ribs 6 are provided with upper wide throats, notshown, near upper rib rail it so that entire cotton looks with seeds mayfreely feed through said ribs 6 from the huller front space i5 into theseed roll space [6 where the ginning actually occurs.

Our invention, depicted as assembly 30, comprises one or more horizontalkeen-angle gridbars 3|, so positioned beyond the point of feeding and inclose proximity to the tips of the teeth 5, as to allow relatively smallclearances ranging from .01" to .125" as may be required. Said assembly20 reciprocates longitudinally of the cylinder through approximately1-inch stroke, on crosshead pistons 45 that are to be seen inFigure 1,attached to heads 34.

At the rear tips of said grid-bars 3!, are duct surfaces or hoods 32,which in conjunction with upper duct surface hood 33 and heads 34comprise a group of downwardly discharging ducts that terminate in ahalf-housing frame 35 and 36, over a revolving cylinder of cuppedbuckets 31.

As shown in these drawings, the duct hoods 32, are connected by meansnot shown, to the keenangle grid-bars 3| so that they may move in unisonwith said grid-bars. Said buckets 31 rotate on a horizontal cylinder 4|having shaft 42. Said buckets are formed by blades 43 and heads 44 inconventional manner familiar to the cotton industry. It will be seen byreference to Figs. 1 and 2 that our oscillating grid-bar assembly 30 ispositioned and trunnioned by crosshead elements 45 and guides 46 on endframes 23 of the gin stand apparatus 3. In the drawings shown, it willbe understood that items 3!, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 and 45 are builttogether as one unit and further provided with a yoke driving head 41,spindle stem 48, and cam pin t9. Said cam pin 49 is positioned into cam50 of cam shaft 55 whereby a rotary movement (by power means not shown)of said cam shaft 55 as it rides in bearings 56 and supports 51, mayproduce a reciprocating movement of entire assembly 38.

In the application of our invention within cotton gin stands, we employa unique heating element as a projecting part of the back of the ginribs, shown herein as 2|. Said element 2! is a fin with undulating edgebroadened to sin rib width providing nodes 22 near the grid bar,interposed between the teeth so that a side scrubbing and cleaningcontact may be made at right angles to the contacts of the fibers andribs. The number of nodes, 22, on said rib fins 2| de pend upon thenumber of grid-bars.

Referring now to the operation of our invention, it will be seen that inthe case of the cotton gin stand 3, herein depicted, the conventionalprocesses of cotton ginning are first performed so that seed cotton willbe conveyed :by the teeth 5 thru the huller ribs 6, from the hullerfront [5 to the seed roll [6, and rafter ginning, the teeth 5 thenconvey the freshly ginned cotton fibers to a point of doffing orremoval. .In the illustration here offered, these freshly ginned fibersare carried by the said teeth 5 through the slots between the gin ribs 1at a peripheral speed usually ranging between 1900 and 2500 feet perminute, subjecting the (said fiber ito centrifugal force whereby acertain amount of free foreign matter is cast out of the fibers into thespace occupied by the throat of the upper duct which is formed betweenhoods =32 and 33. As'these fibers are carried past the keen-anglegrid-bars .31, they are subjected to :a scrubbin and "combing upon the'lfininodes 22 and by said reciprocating grid-bars v3i which veryefiectively remove motes, :immature :small seeds, deaf-stems, leafparticles and certain finely divided foreign matter that is commonlyknown as pin and pepper trash.

The aforesaid foreign matter 'that .is :carried with the cotton fiber tothe cylinders .is thus separated from the fibers by a combination JDfcentrifugal action, scrubbing and combing :and beating against thekeen-angle grid-bars, it, and rib nodes, 22,1and said trash thendescends through the several passages formed by the duct hoods 32 andi33into the buckets 31 of "therotary cylinder 4 I. These buckets 3? emptyintota con ventional conveyor 23 housed .in the trough/=24.

Both in cotton gin stands and cotton ginTlint cleaners, the air-blastnozzle 8 is utilized to .remove or doff the cleaned-fiber from the:toothed cylinder. Said nozzle 8 is supplied by air under pressure fromchamber ZB by means of (air trunk 25.

This volume of doffing air comprises about 1500 cubic feet per minute inconventional gins and lint cleaners, the jet velocity preferablybeingless than 12,000 linear feet .perrminute, From this doff'ing pointthe cleaned :fiber travels through a gin flue 21 to the place ofcondensing into a cotton batt or for other disposal.

'We do not claim the invention of toothed cylinders nor stationarygrid-bars, nor do we claim the invention of cotton cleaning processes assuch, but we do claim:

'1. cotton cleaning apparatus comprising a horizontal cylinder having aplurality of longitudinally spaced circular plates withsawshapedperiphera'l teeth for carrying cotton fiber, a horizontalgrid-bar in close proximity to the teeth tips of said plates forcleaning said fiber, -ribs 'between said *plates, projecting fins on thebacks of said ribs, said fins being provided with nodes near saidgrid-bar to operate in conjunction therewith, means for rotating saidcylinder and means for reciprocating asaid grid-bar longitudinally ofthe cylinder.

.2. A cotton cleaning apparatus comprising-a toothed, rotatablehorizontal cylinder for .carrying cotton fiber, means for feeding cottonfiber to said cylinder, a horizontal grid-:bar located beyond the pointof feeding and inclose :proximity to the teeth tipsof said cylinderforcleaning the fiber on thecy-linder, means for rotating the cylinder,and means for reciprocating :said grid bar longitudinally of thecylinder.

CHARLES MERKEL. CHARLES A. BENNETT. "THOMAS E. WRIGHT.

References :Cited in the ,fi-le of :this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSNumber Name Date 1,936,748 Benjamin :Nov. 28, 1933 2,221,545 JohnstonNov. ,12 :1940 2,536,780 Streun Jan ,2, 1951

